Golf club assembly



April 18, 1933. y F D M N 1,904,231

GOLF CLUB ASSEMBLY Filed May 13, 1932 ATTORNEY;

Patented Apr. 18, 1933 This invention relates to golf equipment and consists of a novel and useful golf club assembly which dispenses with the necessity of a golf bag, thereby lightenin'ggreatly the burden of the player and/or his caddie.

The object ofthe invention is to provide means whereby a plurality of golf clubs of different lengths may be detachably secured in assembled relation so that the user may se- 0 lect and remove from said group any club that he desires to use for a particular shot and then stand the rest in an upright position near by on the ground While executing the shot. As soon as the shot is executed, he may, without leaning over, pick up the assembly of clubs, bunch them together, and carry them under his arm to the spot where the next shot is to be executed, whereupon he may, if necessary, exchange the club previously used for the one best adapted to execute the impending shot and repeat the operation of standing the balance of the grouped clubs on the ground while said shot is being executed, and so on.

The invention has many advantages, among them being that all the clubs are securely held in grouped or assembled relation, and any particular club may be easily selected and quickly removed from the group for use. It also guards against losing any of the clubs. It also enables the player to place his clubs erect on the near-by ground so that they may be easily retrieved by him after a shot is executed. It furthermore saves placing the clubs loosely or lengthwise on the ground during the execution of a shot, which not only has the disadvantage of making it diflicult to retrieve all the loose clubs when the player has completed a shot and is ready to proceed onto the next shot, but it also keeps the handle grips off the ground at all times where, in the event the ground is wet, said grips would become wet and difficult to handle in' executing exacting shots. The invention is also of particular utility in case a player desires to carry his own clubs instead of hiring a caddie, a practice that is not unusual, and indeed very common on public or municipal links where caddies may PATENT? QFFICE,

0F onxEns, NEW YORK M i if I ASSEMBLY}.

1932. Serial No. 611L071."

be unavailable or where, asin many instances, a player prefers not to indulge in the luxury and expense of a caddie. The inventionhas a further advantage in that it permits the grouped clubs, whennot'in use, to be freely suspendedfrom an-overhead support'so that the shafts Will not become warped or bent. Having thus'outlined'some of the more conspicuous'advantages of this invention, I will now proceed to describe the same in one preferred form. I I I In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of'the golf club assembly as wouldappear when the assembly is supported on the ground;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 3; I

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 2, the upper ends only of the clubs being shown and these being in differentpositions from that indicated 7 in Fig. 1. i J

-1 represents the main body of what'I will termrthe carrier. This may be made of any suitable material In the present instance I have indicated said carrier as shaped up from sheet metal. 2-2 represent aplurality of cars or wings extending laterally from said main body, the outer ends of said ears being bent upwardly as at 2 Between said ears are slots 33 which are preferably 8 radially arranged. ,4.4 represent the handle or grip ends of'several golf clubs. 5 repre sents a connector element such as a stud at the end of the handle portion of each club. The head of each stud is preferably rounded and is offset from the handle suiiiciently so that the shank of the stud immediately below the head may be passed into any one of the aforesaid slots 33 in the carrier when the club handle is placed at an excessive or abnormal angle to the'carrier. When the head of the stud settles into the bottom of its respective slot and the club swings downwardly, the upwardly turned ears 2"- prevent the 1 escape of the stud head so that the club and carrier will be securely held in assembled relation. In the particular carrier shown herein, the sameis adapted to receiveand hold five clubs. It :is obvious th'at'said carrier may be provided with a greater or lesser number of slots to permit of the assembly of more or less clubs, as desired. The slots are so spaced from each other that, when the clubs have settled into place, the handle ends will not crowd each other so as to prevent the entire group of connected clubs from being freely bunched together so that they may be carried easily under the arm of the player. The shape of the ears 2-2 is such that when a player is about to execute a shot, he may, without danger of detaching the clubs, spread apart to the degree necessary the lower ends of three of the longer clubs in tripod arrangement so that said ends will rest upon the ground and hold the handle ends aloft free from contact with the ground. This also makes it easy for the player to quickly pick up all of his clubs and bunch them together under his arm so that they may be easily carried from place to place. While any club may be easily removed from the carrier when swung at an angle thereto abnormal to the holding position, it will not be freed therefrom when swung at such an angle as may be required to form one of the legs of the aforesaid supporting tripod. The particular design of the carrier may be modified in a great variety of ways so long as it is constructed in a manner to permit the clubs to be detachably engaged therewith by means of any suitable coupling device which will cooperate with the carrier in such a manner as to insure holding the clubs together as a group under normal conditions, from which group or assembly any one or more of the clubs may be quickly and easily detached for use. 6 represents an eye or ring at the upper side of the carrier whereby the same may be suspended from an overhead support such as a hook whereby in such position all of the clubs may hang straight down so as to avoid warping or bending the shafts, an injury that often occurs when clubs are left for a long time resting on their lower ends in a i golf bag.

While I have shown and described my invention in its preferred form, I wish it to be understood that many changes in construction and design may be made without departure therefrom or without avoiding the scope of the claims therefor.

I claim:

1. A golf club assembly comprising connector means to be permanently secured to the extremity of the handle ends of a plurality of golf clubs, a carrier plate, and means arranged radially around and adjacent the edges thereof for detachably engaging said connector means to secure said ends of said clubs in assembled relation and to permit the free ends of said clubs to be spread apart to a limited degree without separation from said carrier plate.

2. A golf club assembly comprising headed studs to be secured to the handle ends of a plurality of golf clubs, a carrier having slots in its side of a width to permit the shanks of said studs to enter but of less width than the heads of said studs, means to prevent the insertion or removal of said studs into or from said slots excepting by turning said club handles at an abnormal, angle relatively to said carrier.

3. A golf club assembly comprising'head studs to be secured to the handle ends of a plurality of golf clubs, a carrier plate having an upturned annular flange at its periphery with a plurality of radially arranged slots therein open at the top and extending into the bottom of said plate, said slots being of a width to permit the shanks of the studs to enter, but of less width than the heads of said studs, the edges of said slots being curved to prevent the insertion or removal of the studs into or fromthe same except by turning said handles at an abnormal angle relatively to said plate.

FREDERICK A. HODGMAN. 

